A Day In The Life of Jonas Blaine
by Col.Foley
Summary: A regualar day for the Team Leader of Alpha team, until the phone rings.


"And you do know I can make the best pancakes in the world" Jonas said to his wife with a smile

"And you do know I can make the best pancakes in the world" Jonas said to his wife with a smile.

"Gee, and since when did you make pancakes last, 1998?" Molly looked at him with a slight roll of the eyes.

"Now, you are just hurting my honor." Jonas said in mock hurt.

"Well that's OK I really am not hungry anyway," Bob said wondering what he had gotten himself into with his request. He looked over at Kim who just gave him a shrug.

"Everyone here should know that I can do anything I put my mind-" his sat phone ringing interrupted him, this caused Jonas to close his eyes, that thing had the worse timing. "-to" he continued for a second before shrugging it off and putting on his go-face.

He picked up the phone- "go for Blaine" he paused to consider for a second, "that's right me and Bob will be there in a couple of minutes." Jonas nodded to his newly promoted Sergeant First Class before they left the room with a hurried "bye" to Molly and Kim.

When they got to the cave the rest of the unit was already gathered, Dirt Diver, and Betty Blue were waiting around for Snake Doctor and Cool Breeze. They would arrive two minutes later, everyone greeting the other, and everyone just as curious about what was going on as everyone else, they would soon have all their questions answered.

Col. Tom Ryan soon entered the room, with his usual cold indifference that he had to the mission at hand, but that was just a mask for the deep care he had for his Alpha team.

He put a photo on the projector and turned it on, the view that greeted them was one that everyone knew about. "This is the number three man of the Taliban, we have designated him as Target Indigo." Ryan began in his usual interested drawl. "This is a picture taken just three hours ago at a protest demonstration in Pakistan."

"Same guy." Bob said.

"Yes, the mission is to go to Pakistan and observe him. Just observe. Find out what he is doing there while the DOD tries to figure out what to do about it."

"Roger" Jonas said as he got up to leave the room, over all a pretty straightforward mission. Just the timing of it, as usual, stunk a big one. Jonas turned left as the rest of the team turned right. He gave a curt nod to the Sergeant in charge of the Unit's many weapons. He picked up the safety gear, and then got an M-4 off the rack. He proceeded to load a magazine into the weapon, and walla, it was ready to fire.

He picked up the weapon and looked through the sights for just a minute. Then he used his mounting frustration, feeding it into the weapon for the double tap, the paper target's head exploded in so many undefinable pieces.

He really was, disillusioned with the Unit. He continued to love his job, and respect the men and women behind it. He continued to support the cause, and his missions that he was assigned.

Jonas reflected that the ultimate reason he was having a giant falling out was that he knew that he himself was getting old, too old. He was turning 54 in just under two months, and he had been a soldier since he was 22. Then at 26 he joined special ops, and then he was quickly bumped up to the Unit, where he would spend the next, and on going part of twenty years of his life. He fired off two more rounds, one missed due to lack of concentration, as in missed it still would have disabled the target. During that time he had raised a daughter, had a family, loved his wife, been shot at, beaten, tortured, and dropped more then once for each successive thing. The thought of retirement was now constantly on his mind, growing louder and louder in the back of his mind. After all he was a member of this Unit, longer then anyone else in history.

But, could he retire?

Jonas still liked his job, and still wanted to do this. Plus with his experience, and his expertise he was nearly indispensable, it would take ages for Ryan to find a replacement who was as wise and good as Jonas Blaine would. But yet in the end that was no reason not to resign. He had given already more for this country then most people give in a lifetime. But, as he had pointed out to Ryan not so long ago, if he left Ryan would have to in effect put an add in the personals seeking a new team leader, and he also pointed out that those did not exactly grow on trees.

And there was always his team, what would happen to them? Who would take over?

Mack, he was the most logical choice to lead the team in his absence, but he would have to break in one, maybe two newbies.

Bob, with a little more seasoning the sergeant first class would make a hell of a team lead, but again, would he take it?

Charles, no way, Charles was a great go to man, a great reserve a great follower, and the fact was that he would make a great platoon sergeant in the rangers, or the regular infantry. But not for this Unit.

The fact was that the team would likely disperse if Jonas left, Bob would become a number two for a year then get his own team, Mack would get his own fresh team, and Charles would go off to another team, maybe even be a wonderful person in the TOC for a few years.

No, in the long run, Jonas was not ready to hang it up yet. This was especially with the death of Williams. Jonas knew that he would have to stick around until the year was up, then have this talk with himself all over again.

With that made up he put down the now empty M-4 and stalked out of the building.

Five minutes later he approached the C-130 that was waiting for them last one on.

"Good luck, and have a good 'un." Ryan said from behind.

Jonas grinned, "yes sir."


End file.
